Painting Playdough Letters - Sensory Letters and Fine Motor Play

Playdough Alphabet Sensory Play

Last week we made a new batch of playdough, so I wanted to do something fun with our old batch instead of just throwing it out.  One of our favorite ways to use old playdough is by painting it.  This time I decided to take it a step further and add an educational element to it.

JZ (5) and J-Bug (3) and I used cookie cutters to make letters out of the playdough.

I love these giant alphabet cookie cutters we have, because they are easy for little hands to use.

I had plans for the playdough letters, but JZ had other ideas.  He thought it was hilarious to "steam roller" the letters until they were flat.  I love his imagination.

Once we had made a sufficient amount of letters and kept them safe from JZ's rolling pin, I set them on Dollar Tree cookie sheets and asked the boys what colors they'd like to use for painting.

We've had the best luck painting playdough when we use sponge rollers, not brushes.

Both boys loved painting their letters.

For fun I also brought out some glitter to sprinkle over our painted letters.

We left our masterpieces out to dry overnight then shook off the excess glitter.  This gave them extra time to harden.

While making our sensory letters we talked about each letter and the sound it makes.  J-Bug and I use the letters to trace with our fingers and review sounds.

More fun we've had with playdough:

• Playdough Easter Eggs
• There's a Wocket in My Pocket Playdough
• Ocean Dough
• Nature Playdough and Sensory Bin
• Child's Play 101:  Playdough Basics

For more ideas follow my Playdough Activities board on Pinterest.

Click the images below for more alphabet games and activities: